


Unraveled Soul

by 1MrGray



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-28
Updated: 2016-06-28
Packaged: 2018-07-18 20:21:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7329451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1MrGray/pseuds/1MrGray
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rin never wanted to hurt anyone. All he truly desired was a peaceful obscure life with his adopted family. But fate had other things in store for Rin, twisting him into something he wasn't. With such a fate, is it possible for one to find true happiness?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unraveled Soul

Chapter 1

 

A soft wind whispered through the valley, blowing waves through the grass. My eyes opened slowly, hesitantly. I watched the sun burning against the horizon, melting the sky into a palette of oranges and blues. As I began to clear my mind of it’s morning haze, the intoxicating scent of many lilies caught my attention.

I breathed in, deeply, drawing in the sweet fragrance while it lasted. While falling back asleep sounded pleasant, something here felt off. I cautioned myself against believing something so perfect; it could only end badly.

Slowly rising onto my feet, I gasped in awe as I surveyed the little piece of heaven. It seemed fathomless. Shadows hid behind every crevice, every hill, every rock structure, but they didn’t take away from the beauty, no. If anything, it seemed to cast it into a more ethereal light. As night began to fall, the white specs of stars in the sky slowly blinked to life, small eyes watching the world below.

As the world grew darker, the valley grew brighter. Small lights emerged from the lilies, each one blossoming as the light rose. As each patch bloomed, they painted the valley more; swatches of blues and whites coming to life throughout the expanse.

No flower acted the same, each dancing to its own tune. It was a curious little place; however, it was too close to perfect for comfort to settle in. I grew anxious. There was something wrong. I was sure of it.

 

A speck of light drifted inches from my eyes, taking my stare. I leaned in, baffled. Another spec glimmered past me. Curiously I extended a paw out, brushing it. Dispersing into dust, the twinkle sprawled out over the lilies. I frowned at the sight, but it didn’t matter. First, I needed to figure out what this place was, how I got here and why.

Before I got a chance, a strong gust of wind whipped through the valley, forcing me back. Everything went white; a flurry of flower petals blinding me. I squinted as I turned my back to the tempest. I cursed my luck of getting stuck in a place like this as I hunkered lower to the ground. 

Unexpectedly, the storm stopped just as fast as it came, leaving the sky filled with fluttering petals. A flurry of petals rose up in a small spot directly in front of me. A trace of blue shone through, unblinking, causing me to nervously step back. 

The petals dropped, an Absol uncurling itself from the ground, standing up to nearly the height of myself. Apprehension stung the air. I was growing more nervous by the second; shifting my feel and awkwardly glancing back and forth at the absol. Was I supposed to do something? Was there something expected of me?

 

Finally, she rose her head and looked at me. She held the stare for a few seconds before tearing her gaze away. My eyes still roamed. I was curious. 

She seemed to be similar to me. No, she was almost the exact same, I realised. I observed the female absol in turn until my eyes widened with bewilderment. She shared a similar physique to my own, aside from being the opposite gender. Her form was lithe and she was just under what would be the average height for an absol. Two ice-blue eyes were adorned to her, each holding a gentle yet mischievous nature to them. Aside from her gender and abnormal eye color, she looked to be a doppelgänger of myself. My paws started trembling. Seeing the mirror image had me caught by complete surprise. Never had I seen such a thing.

“Rin,” She spoke in a faint whisper.

I swallowed the saliva in my mouth, leaving it dry from the sheer nervousness I felt. “H-How do you know my-” I froze mid-sentence and took a large step back. The flowers resting at the foot of the absol were beginning to slowly wither away. Some of the veins in a few of the plants seemed to bulge with darkness before rupturing. My nose cringed on the spot from the putrid stench that followed. The once pleasant aroma filling the valley was no more. The plants reeked of rot as if they were meat left to spoil in an enclosed room. The absol paid no mind to the corruption around her and instead walked towards me. Following in her wake were the blackened flowers. The plague that the flowers carried spread amongst each other like cancer.

The absol didn't stop until she was just a few steps from me. With a sigh, she dropped her head, avoiding eye contact. A few seconds passed before her head rose up and her blue eyes met my own. An ice cold wind blew, scattering a few petals and ash into the air.

“Like myself, you too are impure,” she started, her voice sounding empty and broken. “I really am bound to a horrible fate, aren’t I?” The absol forced a pitiful laugh.

“Impure?” I repeated to myself, my voice trembling. “Just what is that supposed to mean?” Something in her words stung like they held some truth I could only subconsciously understand.  
A pained smile crept its way onto the absol’s face as her eyes drifted downward again. “Rin, there is something you must know. You may not understand it, but-” The absol stopped herself from finishing. Her paws tensed as her claws ripped into the ground.

She opened her mouth to speak again, but a different voice echoed over hers. “Rin,” the voice reverberated throughout the world, blocking out all other sounds. I looked back and forth in search of the voice. Something about it seemed all too familiar.

 

“Come on, Rin. It’s getting late,” The voice called out again, this time losing the patience in her tone. The next time she called out it was a violent outburst. “Wake up before I blow your ears out with an air horn!” Within seconds, the world around me was melting away, a light gradually growing into place.

My eyes sprang open, immediately catching a beam of light, searing my retinas. Out of reflex, my head shot up like a bullet, smacking into something much harder. Crying out in anguish, my head landed back down on the comfort of the soft mattress. Both of my paws clung to the top of my skull, where a swelling knot began to form. A pained whimper joined in along with my own agonized grunting. For what felt like a half minute, the two of us remained incapacitated, both wallowing in our own pain.

“Ow, watch what you’re doing, that really, really hurt!” A black fox pouted, both her paws over her head, her body curled up into a half ball as she sucked in a deep breath.

I grimaced at the comment. “Yeah, well I just went head to head with an umbreon. Do you have any idea how hard your skull is?” I rose up from off of my cushion on the floor, the fox doing the same. Both she and I swapped a frustrated eye exchange. Over and over, her paw caressed the top of her head, massaging over the ring that marked her as an umbreon.

“Oh yeah! Well, you almost took my eye out with that pointy little spear on your head!” The umbreon rose her voice, not in anger, but more to be melodramatic.

“Err…” I stopped myself on the spot. I never considered what would have happened if I had hit her with my horn? Thinking of this made my stomach well up with guilt. Had my head been more to the left during our collision…

“You’re probably right, sorry,” My head lowered down. “I should have been more cautious of that. Are you alright, did I hurt you?”

The dark fox gave a cheery smile, before patting my back with her paw. “Well, maybe I overreacted a small bit. Maybe be a little more careful in the future.”

“Yeah, sure,” I nodded. “Just wondering, though, why are you waking me up so early?”

Blair's head cocked to the side. Her paw slid from her head and down towards the red bandana tied around her neck and began scratching at it. “Rin… it’s like noon," Blair stated matter-of-factly with a stupefied expression on her face.

The umbreon raised her head and began to scratch at her bandana with her rear leg, paying little attention to me. My eyes darted towards the window. I saw that the sun was not peaking over the horizon, but was much further along in its journey through the day.

“How does this always happen?” I grumbled to myself as I got up to my feet. A tired yawn escaped me as I stretched. A few satisfying pops sounded from my back, alleviating most of the morning stiffness. My head drooped to the ground a bit as I reflected back to my dream. That absol appeared to me again, and like every other time, it’s always as if we’re meeting for the first time again. It all felt a bit much to process. Perhaps I needed to get out of this house and get some fresh air in my lungs?

“Are you still not sleeping well?” Blair wondered. I gave a slight nod, before sighing to myself. “Hmmm, it’s those dreams again, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” I huffed. “It’s like every other time. I wake up in a field of lilies, and then I encounter her. Then, like always, she goes on about things I don’t understand." My voice began to trail off, "With some honesty, I’m not sure what to make of these reoccurring dreams. I never even remember that I'm dreaming and that I've met her plenty of other nights.” For a small period of time, the room went quiet, and the only noise was the distant yips of a poochyena. Blair and I both started to drift off into our own pensive states.

A few seconds passed before Blair's crimson eyes flickered back to life. “I’m telling you, Rin, she has something to do with your past,” she mused. Blair brushed up close to me, half laying on my left arm and her chin resting on my shoulder. Her warm breath coasted over my back. Firmly, her paw moved atop of my own.

The padding of her feet was soft. For the longest time, I always thought that to myself, but it wasn't just her paws I found pleasant. The feeling of her soft fur brushing against my own, her body's warmth, it all felt so welcoming. Like she fitted to me like a missing puzzle piece. Of course, I'd never utter a word of any of that to her.

“Are you sure you don’t remember her, not a single thing?” Blair brought me out of my slight daze. I could feel a slight burn over my face. Out of embarrassment, I turned to hide it.

My words quickly left me, “No, not at all.”

Blair withdrew and stood back. “Well,” Blair started with a shrug. “No point in dwelling on it. Give it some more time, I’m sure your amnesia will clear up. Oh, and I actually forgot to tell you why I came up,” Blair’s tone lightened. “Seb came back from the clinic to make lunch. When I left him downstairs he was finishing up our dishes, so I bet they’re done.”

“Oh, alright,” I said. Blair and I both headed downstairs to the main level of our human’s home. My paws clacked against the hardwood floor, mixing in with the rhythm of a ticking clock that would sing with each passing hour. I followed behind Blair, her paws moving soundlessly. She hummed as she walked down the hall, paying no mind to anything else. Midway down a hall, my stomach let out a pitiful plea.

Be quiet, you. I thought to my stomach as the void seemed to grow.

Blair's ears twitched as her humming changed to a snicker. “Hungry?”

“A little,” I admitted.

“Well, that was bound to happen if you sleep all day.”

I frowned as we entered the kitchen. Here we were greeted by our human, who just happily waved before focusing back on his sandwich.

“Ah Rin, you’re awake. I was actually starting to wonder if you were becoming a nocturnal pokemon,” the human teased.

“Morning, er, afternoon,” I greeted our human, Sebastian.

The human, Sebastian, assembled a sub at the counter, the meaty contents hanging from the bun. I sniffed the air, breathing in the salty taste of the meal. My mouth began to water as I could already make out the flavor of the sandwich. I found it to be a shame that we pokemon never got to enjoy the same meals as our owners did, which was one of the mysteries I could never understand about this world. Couldn't we just enjoy the same meals? Why did I get kibbles? As I waited, I leaned against the cabinets built under the counter. Blair joined in next to me, taking a seat on the hardwood.

A minute passed by before Sebastian had his sandwich bagged and ready to go. “Alrighty, done,” the human sang to himself as he straightened up the collar of his button up. “Thank you two for waiting, I’ll grab your food in just a moment.” The human moved down the counter to the sink, where he ran hot water over his aged hands. When he finished scrubbing himself, he used his dripping wet hands to help organize his messy brown hair. He stroked the messy spots a few times until his hair was slicked back like it always was, leaving a few strands hanging from the front.

Sebastian walked back towards his cooking station and picked up two bowls. “Well, here you two go. I got to get back to the clinic now. I left Cheryl in charge and who knows what crazy things I’m going to go back to. Heh, it’s usually nothing good.” Sebastian placed both bowls on the ground and headed towards the front door. “Well, you two take care now. I’ll be back at the usual time. Don’t burn down the house or anything.” Sebastian said as he gave us a wave.

The door slammed shut behind our human. I looked down at the meal Sebastian had prepared. It was the usual. Poke kibbles. I took the first bite of my meal, taking it one small chew at a time. The dry kibbles were grounded by my teeth, releasing a dull taste of meat into my mouth. I was not finding it too enjoyable. 

From the day I first tried this food I hated it. It was boring, lacked any real flavor, and don't even get me started on the aftertaste. Regardless, it was good enough to tolerate. Since I was never satisfied, I did have a habit of eating the food Sebastian left out on accident. Some nights, the human would forget to put away his dish and I’d treat myself. Usually, this would result in me getting yelled at the following morning, but it was always worth it.

Ten minutes passed by the time I felt satisfied, leaving my bowl half empty. Blair hardly touched her meal either, but she had a habit of eating little. Hence, how she was so skinny. A yawn forced its way out as a sudden drowsiness came over me. I slid down to the ground and rested my chin on my crisscrossed paws.

“Are you seriously going back to sleep?” Blair asked, incredulously. I murmured an inaudible response that even I could not hear. “So you’re serious?” Blair poked at my cheek just enough to cause an itch. My teeth clamped as I attempted to play dead in hopes she'd leave me alone. “You know instead of just lying there all day, we could do something. Maybe go down to the creek, or perhaps we can see if Eren is doing anythi-“

“You know I don't like Eren. He always messes with me.”

Blair sighed. “He's only playing around when he does it. It’s not because he dislikes you or anything. Trust me, I’ve seen him around a lot of pokemon. He’s just quirky.”

“Doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“Alright, I’ll say something if he makes you feel-“

“No, don’t do that!” I interjected without thinking. “That would make things awkward. Plus, I can already imagine the teasing to follow that. ‘Oh Rin has to have girls stick up for him cuz he can’t for himself.”

“Well no,” Blair frowned. “Eren would probably say something much wittier than that.”

“You’re not helping.” My face hit the hardwood.

“Well, Rin, if you want to stay cooped up in the house all day, that's fine. Now, I’m going to go see what Eren is doing. I’ll be back later." Blair started walking towards the door, before stopping halfway, back turned to me."I'm not saying you have to always hang with Eren and me, but I just don't think it's healthy to be such a hermit. You're going to have to socialize with others some day.” Blair continued towards the door.

Blair’s comment stung me. It wasn’t the first time she had said that, nor was it going to be the last. So what if I wasn’t outgoing? Was it my fault that I didn’t feel comfortable around pokemon and humans? It took me about three months to be able to comfortably talk with Blair, and to this day, I still don't like Sebastian petting me. Two years have brought little progress for my attitude. While I wanted that to change, I just couldn’t mentally do it.

By the time I came out of my thoughts, Blair was at the front door. With her paw, she unlatched a hook closing a smaller pokemon door that could fit her. She slipped through the opening, leaving the house. I stared at the small hole she left through, half hoping she’d come back and admit she changed her mind. It took around a minute before I accepted that she was gone.

What can I do with my time? My claw tapped against the hardwood as I pondered through a few ideas. Time began to pass faster than I expected. Thirty minutes went and I was still lying on the hardwood. To an extent the cold of the floor felt good against my skin, but that was before my body began to feel stiff. I gave out a tired moan as I stood,stretching out my shoulder and legs before I headed down the hall.

The wall clock began to chime, it's echo thundering through the empty rooms. As the ringing continued, an iced chill ran through my horn. My nerves trembled, my head throbbed as I struggled to keep myself up. A grunt escaped me as the pain pulsed through my horn, pulling me in a way I couldn’t understand. My legs gave out as I collapsed to the ground.

Both my paws grasped my head as my body began to convulse into a tight ball. In a desperate plea, I cried out, “Blair… Sebastian, someone, please.” 

As if it wanted to remind me, the clock stopped, leaving the house silent in its vacancy. No one came to me. My eyes began to water, but the pain was beginning to subside. My head was numb while throbbing just as hard as my racing heart. My hoarse breaths were all I could hear, aside from my beating heart. In my horn, I still felt something I’ve never felt before. It was a pull, weak, yet present.

What is this? Am I going to be okay? I asked over and over in my head. With shaking paws, I began to push myself up. Lightheadedness made it difficult to stand. Taking measured steps I walked towards the door. Maybe some fresh air could help?. When at the small hole in the door, I crouched down low and forced myself through, despite being too big. In the end, I had to suck in my get to make it, but I made it outside.

I took in a deep breath. The crispness of the fresh air filled my lungs. It did little ease my pain, but at least the open space felt better. It was much more humid, almost sticky. I walked down from the front porch and felt my paws meet the grass. I could feel my feet sink into the mushy dirt as I padded across the lawn. The clear skies above allowed the sun to beat down on me. Even with the long drape of fur on my neck trimmed half way, the heat outside was unbearable out in the open.

I turned to walk back inside, but a sharp stab of pain hit the nerves in my horn again. I bit down on my lip as I slouched towards the ground, struggling to stand. It was just as bad as the first wave of pain. 

This time, I realized that the pain was almost pulling me. I couldn’t understand it, but it was like an invisible force guiding me away from home. Usually, I would ignore anything I didn’t understand, but I felt compelled to listen. Without even thinking, I started walking along the dirt path away from home. My horn continued to nag and I unexpectedly felt the urge to run. 

Kicking up the dirt along the path, I couldn’t stop. My legs burned, my lungs couldn’t keep up. I knew this was dumb, but I still continued.

My head hung low. Each breath from my strained lungs making me ache and crave a drink. A sudden cough overtook me and I felt my lunch coming up. My rear legs collapsed and I abruptly tumbled through the tall grass. Still coughing, I laid still, choking on my own saliva. When my breathing calmed, I was able to pry myself off the ground on unsteady legs.

It wasn’t until a strong wind rattled the forest ahead of me that I looked up. All around leaves spiraled lazily to the ground. Only a few beams of light managed to penetrate through the dense canopy of the forest.

This unfamiliar sense wanted me to head in. The thought brought a shudder through me. Pawing at the ground, I debated if I really wanted to go in. I was never good at navigating, and inside the forest, everything looked the same. The fear of getting lost wasn’t just a possibility, it was almost a certainty. Plus, what if I ran into a hostile pokemon? Or even hunters? I stepped back as my imagination played out the possibilities in my head.

“I’m not really going in,” I assured myself. “That would be pretty stupid of me. It is probably best if I go home and forget all of this happened” I gave a sharp nod of agreement.In my head, it sounded like a good idea; just go home and that’d be the end of it. Unfortunately, the nagging in my horn wouldn’t go away. The only thing that brought me relief was actually listening to it. Hopefully, it was actually trying to tell me something… Or maybe I’m just losing my mind.

I started walking away from the forest, but I kept turning back to it. I tried to ignore the impulse, but the stinging in my horn persisted until my eyes were watering and my teeth were clenched in pain.   
“Just stop already!” I yelled out in anger, unable to take it for another second. I redirected myself back towards the forest, realizing that I had only one way of satisfying my horn.

 

I stopped outside the forest, and after a deep breath, I entered. Within a few steps, the grass grew thinner and the smell of rotting wood and foliage became dominant. In the shade of the trees, things felt much cooler. I did feel a bit of anxiety at first, but after three minutes had passed, the monotonous scenery began to wear on me. I was beginning to feel more comfortable.

Most sounds that came from the forest made me jump. From the scampering feet of smaller pokemon I rarely caught glimpses of, to the chirps of the fletchlings hiding in the trees; however, a distant howl caused a shiver to crawl down my spine. t I was at a great enough distance that I just noted it as something to be wary of.   
Zigzagoons were the only pokemon I did see. Blair may have described them as “harmless unless backed into a corner”, but still, nothing about them made me feel at ease. I could picture it all so vividly in my head: a horde of zigzagoon surrounding me as they all hissed and spit, laughing at my helplessness. If such a thing was to happen I’d be-   
“Arceu-“ I cried out as my forepaw unexpectedly missed the ground and tripped forward. I refocused, snapping out of my daydream to the lovely sight of a steep decline.

The world spun uncontrollably as I tumbled down the hill, yelps of pain escaping me every jolt. I slammed against rocks and trees, and near the end, I cried out in agony as I was sliced with the force of a thousand paper cuts. Suddenly, my body slammed into a larger tree, knocking the wind out of me, but stopping me too.   
For what felt like forever, I remained still on the ground, stuck in the mess of thorns. Through my eyes, the world was still spinning and my lunch was beginning to come up. Both of my paws went over my maw to help hold it in. After a minute, I succeeded to quell my stomach. 

Firmly, I placed both of my paws on the ground and pushed, but my horn was firmly caked into the ground. Pulling with everything I had, I yanked my horn free, bringing up a clump of dirt with it. I exhaled a sigh before I shook any loose dirt from my head, then looked back up the steep hill I fell down. To my surprise, the incline was much steeper than I thought. It was almost a miracle that I didn’t break anything. It’d be tough getting back up, but not impossible if I took things slowly.  
“I think I should go back,” I decided. Taking it one step at a time, I fought through all the snaggy thorns around me. Often, the thorns won and they would cut into me, sometimes even breaking off into my skin. I bit down on my lip as I tried to keep my eyes safe above all else.   
As I continued to fight my way up, I began to contemplate my approach. Surely there had to be a better way up. I mean, as far as I could tell, things only got steeper from here, and if I fell back down it’d be a repeat of my first fall. I searched along the hill, finding that most other areas were cliff drops, and others far too steep for me to climb. Seeing this actually made me a bit thankful. If I hadn’t fallen where I did I’d probably have a few broken bones, maybe even a broken neck.

I knew this whole trip was a mistake. I came out here over some stupid sensation in my horn. Now, here I am: stuck, and without anyone knowing where I was. If I couldn’t find a way to safely get back up, I could get lost, and these woods go on forever.

I carefully turned myself around and inched my way down the hill until I was on flat ground; away from any thorns. I sat down and began to yank some of the sharp thorns from my coat. I couldn’t reach most of them. In the end, I was only able to remove four. I stood again and looked up for any sign of the sun. I scanned through the trees a bit, but couldn’t make out how far the sun was through its cycle. The tree branches were really thick, making it feel later than it really was.

A sharp pain crawled through my horn, making me cringe. This time, I felt close to whatever was causing this feeling. I still didn’t understand how I knew, but it was something like instincts. It came naturally.

“Just a little more. You can do this, Rin,” I pep talked myself. I started heading in the direction I felt my horn was guiding me, but a sudden howl through the woods stopped me and scared off the birds in the area. Barking followed, some of the pitches deeper than others. I hid behind the nearest tree as I listened carefully. The sounds of the predators only grew nearer.

Before I had forgotten everything due to my amnesia, I had only seen a few domesticated poochyena. Most were owned by trainers who passed through Oldale and seemed nice, but then there were the ones that were caught in the wild. Blair always told me to distance myself from them. I could see why. They always had that wild unpredictable look in their eyes, like they could explode at any moment.

Whatever was leading me out here, it was no longer worth the risk. Picking a random direction, I sprinted away from the wolves. Adrenaline started to pump through my veins, blocking out everything but my desire to run. Everything became a blur, until I was abruptly T-boned by a grey blur. Both me and whatever hit me tousled to the ground, until we stopped with me on top. A smaller pokemon clawed at my stomach, its claws tearing into my skin. 

I jolted up and moved off of what I presumed to be a poochyena from its size, but when I looked down, I wasn’t sure what I was looking at. A pokemon similar to a vulpix struggled up to her feet. When she attempted to walk, her movements were all over the place and her red paws were shaky. A drop of red fell to the ground. When I looked for the source, I saw a streak of crimson seeping through a wound barely visible through her slate-gray fur.

The fox took a few more steps before collapsing to the ground. My horn started to burn as she struggled to get back up. Something in me screamed that she was the one triggering all of this.   
“H-hey?” I murmured, hesitantly, not really sure of what to say. The fox continued to struggle, not even looking back at me. “Are you alright?” I asked louder.

A gasp escaped the fox, before she hit the ground, gritting her teeth in agony. She dug her claws into the dirt as her eyes clenched shut to help ward off the tears that were starting to escape. I watched, unsure of what to do. Never once have I helped an injured pokemon, let alone anyone. I wasn’t even sure who she was. A howl took me from my thoughts as I snapped my stare back behind me. No wolves were in sight, but they were close.

She extended her paw out, almost as if she was going to drag herself. “Help… please,” she gasped, pleading. Her breath caught and her paw dropped back to the ground, lifeless; her stuttered breathing the only thing that told me that she wasn’t dead. I shook my head, incredulous that I was getting into this.

“They’re after you, aren’t they?” I asked as I kept looking for any sign of her pursuers. She gave me no response, but I already came to a verdict on what I was going to do “Stay still, I’ll get you out of here,” I promised as I lowered down next to her. With a grunt of pain, the fox pulled herself up onto my back, using her claws for grip. I grimaced as I felt skin break, but didn’t say anything. When she was on, I stood up.

 

I shouldn’t be doing this; this isn’t even my business. I’m going to get myself killed. I told myself as the barks grew closer. A howl from behind me made me jump. I turned to see two smaller canines stalking me from further away. Both stood over a smaller ledge as they snarled, crimson eyes set on me.

“Found them! They’re over here!” the one on the left shouted. The poochyena exchanged glances before sprinting off in my direction.

“No!” I yelled as I turned tail and ran. Never before had I took off so fast. I didn’t look back once as I bolted through the forest. I wasn’t even sure if the zorua was still hanging on. My legs barely kept up with how fast I wanted to run. The sound of feet running over brush grew nearer and when I looked back I saw the two poochyena gaining on me. Off even further I could see another set of wolves joining in on the hunt.

I wanted to yell for help, but all my air was going towards keeping my pace. At the end, I noticed a strong presence of light. Perhaps it was oldale, an optimistic part of me thought. I may have found my way back by luck! With a final burst of energy, my pace quickened towards the end of the trees, until I realized what it really was. I screeched to a halt, the fox on my back nearly flying off, only being stopped by my neck. She let out a cry of pain, but that was the least of my worries.

My paw pushed a rock over the ledge as I stared towards the bottom of a large ravine. The distance was far too great to jump, and the fall would easily kill. The only chance of surviving such a fall would be in the rushing stream of water below, but even that would end bad. I turned back at the two poochyena as they both spreaded apart, closing my chances of escape. My eyes flickerd back and forth between the two. I took a step back, but my paw missed the ledge, nearly causing me to fall off.

“End of the road,” the poochyena on the left growled. “Hand over the zorua, and just maybe we’ll consider letting you run away in once piece.” I glanced back at the vulpine, unsure if that was an offer I could really take. She met eyes with my own, and I could see the fear in her. I turned from her as I faced the poocyhena. Two more of the canines joined in on the scene, both grins holding malice. One of the canines licked their lips, like they could already taste me or the fox.

“So, an absol shows up to save the day, huh?” a voice came from the left. I turned to see a mightyena coming out from behind a tree. From the sight of him I felt petrified. It was more than obvious he had years of experience on me, the scars said it all. “So, come to save the little fox from us, huh?” All the smaller canines made way for the alpha as he walked in front of me.

“I just found her like this…” I nervously answered, keeping my head low. “I… I-“

“You what? Thought you’d be some big man saving her? Maybe take her into some cave after and deflower her? Cute.” the mightyena inched closer, his face inches from my own. His sneer widened, revealing his rotten yellow teeth. His rancid breath leaked into the air, making me want to gag on the spot, but for the sake of my life I resisted. I shrunk in size, backing as close to the ledge of the cliff as I could.

“I’m… I’m sorry, I didn’t want trouble, I really am. If you let us go, I can get you whatever you want, more meat than the two of-“

“Like I give a damn about your boney ass,” the mightyena snapped his fangs at me. “I know what you’re thinking, but we’re not wild pokemon. Try hunting dogs, and that zorua on your back, our owner wants her. So, hand over the little zorua, or I’ll rip out your jugular where you stand. You choose.”

A wind blew in from over the ravine as I realized I was out of choices. I looked back at the fox on my back, not liking what I had to do. This time she didn’t look at me, she just hung limply over my side, defeated. She stared off into the ravine with a blank stare, almost like she was trying to escape this whole nightmare.

“So, I give her to you, and I can go?” I asked, turning back at them.

“Sure, we don’t care. We just want her, then we go our separate ways. So, give her over, now.” The mightyena growled as me.

“N-No,” I blurted.

“Wanna try that again, kid?”

I looked up at the mightyena, “I won’t do it.” I turned towards the cliff and crouched low. “Hang on!” I yelled, before launching myself from the ledge. The grip of the fox on me tightened as we plummeted down towards the stream of water. Both my eyes clenched shut as I took the brunt of the impact into the water.

For the first time in my life, I did something unbelievably dumb and out of character. It wasn’t my first time in water, but may as well have been. I kicked furiously with my able legs, only bobbing my head over the rushing water for split seconds at a time before I sank back down. My legs began to tire and despite my efforts the sun speckled surface only seemed to drift further. 

With an aggressive swing in the current, my body slammed into the sharp rocks of the base. Everything spun around and around, I didn’t even know which was up anymore. When my lungs ran out of air, they gave in. A rush of cold water flooded my lungs. Soon the oxygen deprivation took my thoughts, and everything went from a haze to black.

**Author's Note:**

> All critic and suggestions are appreciated. Expect more chapters to come, thanks for reading.


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